TRON Revolution
by Belle Elegant
Summary: Instead of Sam, it was Ed that found his way onto the Grid
1. Chapter 1

TRON Revolution

Chapter 1- Aftermath

"You alright, kid?"

Ed looked up at Alan Bradley, standing in the office door. Alan looked as tired as Ed felt. It had been a long three years, replete with long days, longer nights, and tight deadlines culminating in the new ultra-secure operating system. The one Sam Flynn had released onto the internet.

Ed frowned, and tried to look indifferent. "I get paid either way," he said as he looked down at his tablet. He tapped an icon and watched the app load.

Alan didn't buy it for a minute. He had followed the young programmer's ENCOM Corporation career closely as Ed had developed the revolutionary operating system. Alan admitted that at first he was reluctant to hire the son of the man who had stolen the (now-missing) Kevin Flynn's programs and the ENCOM Corporation itself. But the kid's resume had blown away the committee and he had agreed to hire Ed on a probationary period.

It turned out that Edward Dillinger Jr, son of notorious Ed Dillinger, had spent every minute during his employment at ENCOM Corporation proving that he was not his father. And Alan's feelings toward the young man had turned from suspicion to acceptance to respect and then fondness. He and Lora never had a son of their own, only daughters. Alan loved his daughters more than life itself, but none of them showed any interest in computer programming. When he had first met the skinny, lonely, geeky-looking boy with a chip on his shoulder who was only interested in programming, he felt like he had met a kindred spirit. The first since Kevin Flynn.

What was surprising to Alan was the fact that his clumsy attempts at guiding Ed was not met with complete rejection. Ed seemed to appreciate his efforts, unlike Sam, who wanted nothing to do with Alan, ENCOM or anything that had to do with his missing father.

"Look, Ed. I'm sorry for what happened," he started, but Ed was shaking his head.

"Wasn't your fault, Alan." They both knew that Sam was a loose cannon. But Ed, Alan and the company were usually the ones who paid for Sam's hotheaded antics.

"I know, but still, you worked hard and your work will be recognized, I promise." Alan knew that it was the least he could do.

Ed leaned back and took of his glasses, rubbing at his eyes. "You should go home, Alan. Get some sleep," he advised his mentor.

Alan smiled wanly, "You need it more. Take tomorrow off." He scowled as his phone rang in his jacket pocket. He pulled it out and answered, nodding at Ed to ask his pardon for the interruption. "This is Alan Bradley," he answered.

As he listened to the one-sided conversation, Ed noticed Alan's expression change from annoyed to angry resignation. "Problem?" he asked as Alan clicked off the smart phone.

"Sam," was the completely expected answer.

"Hospital?"

"Jail."

"My second guess," Ed joked wryly.

Alan put the phone back in his pocket and buttoned up his jacket.

"Going to bail him out?" Ed asked, leaning back in his chair.

"No," Alan answered shortly. "He's an adult, he can get his own ass out of jail. I'm going home and getting some sleep. I am not sure when the last time I saw my daughters."

Ed nodded, suppressing a pang of jealousy. An only child of a dead mother and a father in jail, he wished ...and dismissed the thought. "Take care, Alan."

Alan nodded and left, the sound of his footsteps on the carpet faded quickly then the silence filled the office.

Ed sighed and packed up his tablet. As he walked around his desk a sound caught his attention. A small black object was on the floor by the doorway. He picked it up and recognized a old-style pager. It displayed a number. Thoughtfully, he flipped open his tablet and typed it in, curious at who would be paging Alan. His eyebrows rose to see that it was from a land-line from Flynn's, the Arcade according to the reverse directory.

Flynn's.

Goddammit


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 The Arcade

Ed looked up at the dark Flynn's sign looming above the door of the old brick building. The arcade was dark and absolutely silent. He double-checked his tablet, but it was right place. The phone call had originated here.

He bit the inside of his cheek and glanced around, making sure he was unobserved as he took the bump-key out of his pocket. It wasn't legal to have one if you weren't a lock-smith, but Ed's passion had always been about security. Knowing that his father had stolen those games from Flynn, Ed had worked hard these last three years trying to make sure that no one would steal from the Corporation again. And maybe clear his family's name.

Stupid Sam.

Ed opened the door and slipped in, making as little noise as possible. The arcade was dark and lifeless, the only light filtering in from the street. A coating of dust lay over everything. It was clear that no one had been here for ages. Ed looked at the plastic-covered arcade games. The game at the far end of the room drew Ed's attention for no particular reason. He walked through the silence and pulled the protecting plastic of the game. It was called Tron.

Ed had never played it. He looked down, noticing the scratches on the floor in front of the machine and grinned in triumph. He grabbed the side of the machine and pulled it aside, revealing the hidden door behind. Entering the tunnel, he walked down the stairs, sneezing at the amount of dust. The flashlight app on his tablet illuminated the brick and stone as he descended. Ed looked around, figuring that the place was a hidden area from during Prohibition.

He found a set of doors with a sign that read Danger, Electrical Sub-room. A set of keys were still in the lock. Entering the room, he sneezed again. Everything was coated in an unbelievable amount of dust and cobwebs. No one had been here in a very, very long time.

Faded pictures of Kevin Flynn and young Sam hung on the wall. Old-fashioned machinery, including an _really_ old remote control in an old reclining chair were set about the room. A chair and a desk were on the far side of the room, under a diagram of something called the grid. A cup sat on the desk. He held up the tablet and snapped a picture of the diagram for later study. Then he went to the desk and saw it was actually a monitor and a readout with 20:11:20:16:22:14 and he realized it was today's date.

Ed reached out and cleared the dust off the readout and the screen flickered to life. A keyboard appeared. Ed was impressed. He hadn't realized this technology had been around for so long. There was a DOS prompt. Not wanting to sit in the filthy chair, he opted instead to lean over the readout.

Ed scruffed around in his memory for the correct prompts. But it had been too long and he really wasn't familiar with the code. It looked like it could have been COBOL, but with some differences. He typed $whoami and was immediately rewarded with "Flynn".

Okay, so Flynn _had_ been there. So what had he been working on? He picked up the tablet and queried some sites. On hit came as "#bin/history". He tried it.

His eyebrows raised at the readout. The final line read "502 LLLsDLaserControl – ok 1"

Ed typed LLLsDLaserControl – ok 1 and on top of the lines of code a window opened "Aperture clear?"

This was getting strange. Ed looked around but didn't see anything unusual. On a whim, he hit "yes".

There was sound of machinery gearing up, but before he could locate the source of the the sound, the room ...changed.


End file.
